FAQ's on the Camino de Santiago
How to get to St Jean or Roncesvalles
What about Food?
What is a usual day like?
Where can I get a pilgrims passport?
Did you lose much weight on the Camino?
How much did you spend?
What is the weather like?
How safe is it? I am a woman – how safe is it?
How fit do you need to be?
I am x years old, am I too old?
What about medical help?
I only have one, two, three weeks, which part or parts are the best?
What about mobile phones, cameras, ipods, etc.
I only speak English, or …?
Can I join a group?
What about food on the Camino?
Yes, what about food? A question which had not occurred to me before going to Spain and France to start my first Camino. I have had the pleasure of traveling in Spain and France on numerous occasions before and I love their food. Compared to the usual British cuisine I find it more tasty.
All that said, the food along the Camino is was not what I had become used to in Paris or Madrid.
Mornings I just wanted coffee to start with. Most of the time I had a snack bar that I had bought the day before. Then I would walk to the first bar. It would normally be full of pilgrims getting breakfast and like me their first coffee of the day. So the walk to breakfast could be 5km but normally much less. If the albergue I had stayed in was in a large enough town there would be a bar open about 6.30 or 7.00am so breakfast would be had there.
Lunch had a little more variety, I got used to a Spanish dish which is made of egg and potatoes – Tortilla de patatas – and I would often have this in a baguette. Sometimes I bought tuna, or cold meats, fruit and some bread; then I would stop along the way during the hottest part of the day and rest and eat. However, many pilgrims push their walking quite fast so that they are finished walking for the day by this time. See What is a usual day like?
During the first two weeks I ate out every night. Every town has a bar which serves the Pilgrims menu. This consists of three courses with wine and/or water. The price varies from about €7 to €10. This was enough to fill me for the rest of the evening.
There are small shops in villages, so buying your own food to cook in the evenings in Albergue’s is also possible. I did this mostly during the last ten days or so. Pilgrim’s menus become very boring night after night – very much the same from village to village. Once I had met and traveled with others it was easy at night to all get together and pay together to cook food between us. Cheaper – but more importantly more convivial. Most Albergue’s had cooking facilities, see the Albergue list for kitchen.
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I intend to begin the camino this sept. I have an obsession about going to the toilet during the long walks, what happens with No 2s if you happen to pick up a little bug the night before or even that morning. Can you jump behind a bush every five minutes, is there enough bushes. Is it ok to litter the countryside with soiled toilet paper. Would one roll be enough. This is a worst case scenario and has anyone any first hand experience. john
There are enough places generally to do the toilet. I have UC and that I though would cause me a real problem – surprisingly it was much better there than it was at home – maybe all the walking helped.
The good thing about toilet paper is that it is designed to dissolve so it is generally okay – don’t use hankies they last forever.
Enjoy, it is usually fun.
Toilet paper biodegrades, yes, but I would not want to see someone’s soiled TP in the bush, or any type of waste/trash for that matter. Pack it in, pack it out would be a good motto for pilgrims.
What we usually do during backpacking trips is bring a brown bag, or even an old coffee bag – this will then hold the soiled TP – then put that bag inside another bag (maybe a ziplock type of plastic bag). Discard the contents of the inner bag on your next trip to the toilet (modern). Also, do #2 100 feet away from any water source, to avoid contamination. One must dig a 6-8 inch deep trench to contain the waste and cover with soil aftr use. Don’t leave your waste exposed to animals (or for humans to see).
Many of the ladies on the trail would simply wear their poncho’s in time of need!! Even in the middle of the fields along the trail entirely exposed ( no trees ) if necessary; squat down, your completly hidden. I always carry my trusty plastic shovel and toilet paper for the possible occasions. Bury all the evidence. We are used to hiking in protected environments where LEAVE NOTHING BEHIND policy insist on this practice.
hope this comforts you
I am going to start the Camino on the 28th of March, I was planning on taking a summer sleeping only and a silk liner. do you think this would be warm enough , as it is much lighter to carry that my winter one.
Does anyone know what the weather is like in Apirl. I am coming from New Zealand and hoping it would be something like our spring.